West Catholic girls track team led by four senior veterans

Tara Martin is a senior sprinter and an integral member of the West Catholic relay teams this spring. (Jeff Swainston | Advance Newspapers)

WALKER -- Despite a rather modest finish in the O-K Bronze in 2013, the West Catholic girls track team is hoping that its senior leadership and experience will help each of the 32-person team have a banner individual year.

“We have a good group of kids this year,” said 18th-year coach Dave Arbanas. “Four of them are experienced seniors who have been with us all four years. Because of that, we think that many of those girls could see some improvement in 2014.”

Among those returning is versatile senior Cassidy Scarpino, who is part of the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams, as well as the team’s low-hurdle specialist.

Also coming back is senior Leah DeFouw, whose consistency in the high hurdles will give the Lady Falcons a dependable leg up in conference duals. Joining Scarpino and DeFouw is senior Tara Martin, a solid sprinter and member of the relay teams.

Arbanas believes that between these girls and the talented group of underclassmen, his team may once more make an appearance at the state finals.

“We’ll be moving conferences after this year,” he said, “but we still have to deal with the likes of Forest Hills Eastern, Cedar Springs, and others for one more season, so we’ll need to do the best we can to compete. Hopefully, we can improve on the 1-4 conference season we had in 2013.

“In the meantime, our girls will continue their individual drives for personal success, and we have the coaching staff and experience to facilitate that. If we are able to achieve those goals, we’ll be in a good place for regional competition later in the season.”

Arbanas likes the chemistry he’s seen so far, and he believes that no matter how the team does, they are going to work together.

“There’s no real hierarchy on our team,” he said. “Everyone is simply a part of the team. They’ve come together very well and we all know what we’re trying to accomplish, both as a team and individually, and I’m very proud of them.”